The Chicago Fire
Introduction
The Chicago fire occurred on 8th in the month of October during the year 1871. It left property worth millions destroyed. Besides this there were plenty of people who lost their lives while others had no place to call home. How the fire started
The fire originated at the barn yard of a couple; Mr. and Mrs. O’ Leary. Numerous suggestions have been made about possible causes of the fire, some of which were dismissed later. Investigations were made into causes of the fire by some Fire Commissioners and the Board of Police. After conducting interviews (they questioned fifty people) and looking at evidence surrounding the case, this Commission was still unable to determine what had caused the fire.
However some people had suggested that there was a spark blown by wind up a chimney and this started of the fire which spread through the City. Others have suggested that it had been caused by Mrs. O’ Leary by claiming that an animal at her barnyard kicked a lantern that set the whole place ablaze. Mrs. O’ Leary was acquitted off any charges after giving her testimonies. Others have also suggested that the fire could have been as a result of malice by some agency. Evidence to back all these claims was insufficient to get a culprit. [1
Chicago before the fire started
Source: Helmer, B. (1996): The Conflagration, retrieved from http://www.chicagohs.org/fire/ruin/index.ht
Chicago was a strategically located City within the US. It acted as a link between two parts of the American economy; that is agriculture which was mainly conducted in the Western part. It was also a converging point for all activities related to industries as was characterized by the Eastern region. The City's economy was represented by the numerous economic activities. There were ten railway lines. There was a busy river connecting to the lake. It was also characterized by over one thousand factories. The City was buzzing with activity as people were constantly trading goods, exchanging information and building their economy. [2
Conditions before the fire started
The City of Chicago had a lot of conditions that favored the spread of the fire. The first being that most of the buildings in the City were made up of materials that were conducive for the spread of the fire. It was mostly composed of wood. Besides this, the City had suffered from a drought and this greatly increased the chances of poor control in case a fire struck. Prior to that fateful day of 8th October, there had been a fire that had already exhausted fire fighters and drained some of the resources to be used in firefighting. This was also backed up by the fact that there were strong winds within the City from the North Eastern part of the region. All these factors formed fertile ground for the spread and subsequent destruction of the fire. [3
The Spread of the fire and why it took so long to die out
The Fire began at Mrs. O'Leary barn yard in Illinois during the evening hours on Sunday. It started spreading quickly and was reported to the fire department at around nine pm. However, the attendant left at the Fire Department simply dismissed it as part of the flames that had been witnessed during the previous day. He assumed that those flames were dying out. Some time later, the fire department attendant realized that it was actually a different fire from yesterdays. This was the point at which he deployed firefighters to that region. However, there was a misunderstanding between the fire alert and the firefighters as they did not trace the place immediately. More time wastage by the fire department meant that more property was getting destroyed. By the time the fire department got there, the fire had spiraled out of control. [Chicago State University Articles
